It was honestly a much more emotional experience than I expected. I approached the game with some skepticism, but the theme intrugued me, and I was looking for an excuse to write without the torture of editing, so I gave it a shot. I will say I definitely recommend the original printing of the game as opposed to the clear version. The little "handwritten" notes and the surreal art add to the experience. I love how unknowable and alien the aesthetic looks. It makes me wish the events themselves used fewer standard fantasy tropes and more of that. However, the events are still very solid. The game loop is simple enough that you don't get taken out of the experience, and the whole thing lasts no longer than it needs to. The game pushes you towards exploring its ideas in a nice way, and I can see anyone who likes the theme and enjoys creative writing having a blast with this.
If I were to offer some feedback or criticism, it would mainly be about one aspect of the gameplay. The theme of the game is loneliness through ambition and the seductive influence of power. Some parts of the gameplay play into this quite well. You will have to sacrifice Bonds if you want more Power and fewer Control hits. However, there is one large part where this alignment of gameplay and narrative breaks: incentives. The game tries to disguise this a bit by telling you that a magus without spells is of no use, but early on you may realise something... Spells are bad. (At least if your aim is to survive the full seven events.) After a progress roll you always choose whether to play the event you landed on or go to the next one. Sometimes both events are Spells, but often this is a choice between a Bond and a Spell. The problem is that a Bond is a risk-free resource and a Spell is almost exclusively an obstacle. The Spell could give you a point of Focus if you succeed with distinction, but that is both unlikely and a lot worse than what a Bond offers. I realise this is a narrative game, and I should not approach it from the point of view of optimisation, but it feels odd that even if your aim was ruthless ambition, the way to do that is to aim for Bonds, so you can increase your Power. It is a bit of a nitpick. The gameplay is not broken; it's quite enjoyable. There's just this odd quirk to it.
Overall, I recommend the game. It might not be the most replayable solo-RPG out there due to the very specific theming and the amount of events, so take that into considerations when you look at the price, but it will certainly be worth your time if you decide to buy it.
Haven't gotten the chance to play yet, but the prompts are great and character creation is super interesting. One of the games I've been most excited about this year, mainly because it seems to be as as good for creative writing as it as for solo roleplaying. The artwork is fun and really helps drive home the atmosphere. Def worth checking out!
I finished my first playthrough and managed to experience a good-ish? ending.
I discovered the nature of magic was to destroy your own soul during casting, so wizards would kill people en masse in order to graft extra souls onto their own for protection (kind of like an eldritch sunscreen). My parents did this to me as a young child killing themselves and all of our family's servants. I wished to stop this sort of thing from happening ever again. I managed to mostly learn spells without scars, except for becoming reviled after learning Promise of Brokenness (oops). I nurtured a bond with my frog familiar and spent 3 focus to gain power. Then when it came time to cast my final greatest spell I had to sacrifice my soothsayer companion for enough power to successfully cast Dark Paradox of Mathematics. This spell changed magic forever so that wizards would now only ever be able to hurt themselves to help others, and never the other way around. With nothing left to accomplish, I said goodbye to froggy friend and left my tower forever with a sense of peace.
You are oh so close to making this a size that can be printed as a booklet without having to trim every page. Any way to make the printable version's pages a little taller? I will convert it to a booklet and sent it back for you to use :)
This is a marvellous game and is a great introduction to solo role playing. The story, thanks to the well written prompts, took me on an unexpected journey into the heart of solitude and the cost of power. It can sometimes ask unsettling questions about what you are prepared to sacrifice to achieve your ambition, but you always have the option to step away. Playing a game that is capable of surprising you at every turn is a delight! This is a designer worth following. Thank you Momatoes! I look forward to exploring your other work.
Ok, I came back after my first run is completed. I really really liked it. I found it similar to thousand year vampire but shorter, wich is good, and with less book keeping, wich is really good. It has a lot of replayibility due to the prompts being randomizable. The only thing i could say, is that i tried to be good, and ended up beeing quite able to do so. I was kinda expecting the game to force me into darker places. I could have totally gone there if I wanted though. Really good Game!
A very enjoyable solo experience! The prompts are creative, the layout and atmosphere are great! The game can get really dark really quick, exploring the solitude of great power. Had a day-long playing-writing session and soon would again
absolutely incredibly solo ttrpg, the first one I've full played through in like..a year and a bit? i reckon the replayability value is through the roof - i've just sat down and written my answer for 6 hours STRAIGHT so i'll probably give it a few months before I try playing it again though haha. massive kudos to the creator, you really just dropped a masterpiece on us like I wouldn't forgo sleep to play. my playthrough can be found here (https://butchboar.wordpress.com/2023/05/12/the-magnus-response-review/) if anyone wants a nosey.
Good game. I liked the prompts and the overall idea very much. The game is very Prospero-esque and the process is flexible enough to accommodate to various character ideas.
I'd like to have more various prompts for bond progression, as currently all bond events have the same prompt in the Nurture section. I also found the endings a little bit underdeveloped. I'd like to be able to role for some final prompts, perhaps with various options depending on how good or bad my magus had fared.
Summary of my playthrough:
My wizard was an absolvent of an elite magical school who dabbled in powerful magic, trying to bring a world revolution. He ended up both causing World War I and resolving it and his final spell changed the reality to create a completely new dynamics of power in the world. He ended up as an artifact of an forgotten old world, a eccentric professor surrounded by multiple friends.
Dear reader wondering if this game is worth it: it is. Everybody talk about how great the game is in the other comments, you can go and read those instead. I myself can't wait to start
But can we talk for a second about the layout? Light text on dark and evocative pictures, a bold choice of colors and fonts, and it WORKs. Seriously, this game makes a cliche gothic font just... work like it's nothing. The destructurated page layout makes me think of mork borg -OK, which destructurated page layout wouldn't? - and I love it. And here comes the best part: the credit section informs you that IT. WAS. MADE. ON. POWERPOINT.
I'm truly in awe, both at the game desing and at the tenacity and spite needed to pull this of. Dear author, congrats.
Great game! I played some months ago a session and I found it deeply touching. My unnamed magus even had a happy ending, although he left behind all his magic. You can read the actual play (in spanish) in my blog: The Magus, review and actual play. Yes, in a blog, not in a video; I'm a traditionalist ;)
A deep and tragic game about ambition and isolation. Magus tempts you twice fold with impossible odds. First, embark on the path of power without ever losing control. Second, to be strong without ever being vulnerable.
My first session felt like a marathon of blood. From the beginning, Magus plays the clever trick of presenting you an out: "Perhaps the best course of action you could take is to never play". The text clearly shows how dangerous your journey of power can be. The world could be pummeled to dust if you made one simple mistake. But your path as a Magus almost feels too simple to fail. Make a compromise here, stay the path once in a while there and grab power when it's safest. What could ever go wrong with you at the helm?
Then you do make a mistake. And sacrifices must be made. But it's okay. You have power. And there are plenty of people to take the blow for you. You took on a debt for them. Now would be their turn. When the dominoes finally start falling in front of you, you will have already convinced yourself you still hold all the cards.
I really recommend taking a weekend to play this. If not give it a read.
The Magus was my first solo RPG and it was so fun. I'm a writer trying to defeat a writer's block and similiar exercises like these are perfect for that! If the physical copy ever released outside of italy I would love to buy it!
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
It was honestly a much more emotional experience than I expected. I approached the game with some skepticism, but the theme intrugued me, and I was looking for an excuse to write without the torture of editing, so I gave it a shot. I will say I definitely recommend the original printing of the game as opposed to the clear version. The little "handwritten" notes and the surreal art add to the experience. I love how unknowable and alien the aesthetic looks. It makes me wish the events themselves used fewer standard fantasy tropes and more of that. However, the events are still very solid. The game loop is simple enough that you don't get taken out of the experience, and the whole thing lasts no longer than it needs to. The game pushes you towards exploring its ideas in a nice way, and I can see anyone who likes the theme and enjoys creative writing having a blast with this.
If I were to offer some feedback or criticism, it would mainly be about one aspect of the gameplay. The theme of the game is loneliness through ambition and the seductive influence of power. Some parts of the gameplay play into this quite well. You will have to sacrifice Bonds if you want more Power and fewer Control hits. However, there is one large part where this alignment of gameplay and narrative breaks: incentives. The game tries to disguise this a bit by telling you that a magus without spells is of no use, but early on you may realise something... Spells are bad. (At least if your aim is to survive the full seven events.) After a progress roll you always choose whether to play the event you landed on or go to the next one. Sometimes both events are Spells, but often this is a choice between a Bond and a Spell. The problem is that a Bond is a risk-free resource and a Spell is almost exclusively an obstacle. The Spell could give you a point of Focus if you succeed with distinction, but that is both unlikely and a lot worse than what a Bond offers. I realise this is a narrative game, and I should not approach it from the point of view of optimisation, but it feels odd that even if your aim was ruthless ambition, the way to do that is to aim for Bonds, so you can increase your Power. It is a bit of a nitpick. The gameplay is not broken; it's quite enjoyable. There's just this odd quirk to it.
Overall, I recommend the game. It might not be the most replayable solo-RPG out there due to the very specific theming and the amount of events, so take that into considerations when you look at the price, but it will certainly be worth your time if you decide to buy it.
Haven't gotten the chance to play yet, but the prompts are great and character creation is super interesting. One of the games I've been most excited about this year, mainly because it seems to be as as good for creative writing as it as for solo roleplaying. The artwork is fun and really helps drive home the atmosphere. Def worth checking out!
I finished my first playthrough and managed to experience a good-ish? ending.
I discovered the nature of magic was to destroy your own soul during casting, so wizards would kill people en masse in order to graft extra souls onto their own for protection (kind of like an eldritch sunscreen). My parents did this to me as a young child killing themselves and all of our family's servants. I wished to stop this sort of thing from happening ever again. I managed to mostly learn spells without scars, except for becoming reviled after learning Promise of Brokenness (oops). I nurtured a bond with my frog familiar and spent 3 focus to gain power. Then when it came time to cast my final greatest spell I had to sacrifice my soothsayer companion for enough power to successfully cast Dark Paradox of Mathematics. This spell changed magic forever so that wizards would now only ever be able to hurt themselves to help others, and never the other way around. With nothing left to accomplish, I said goodbye to froggy friend and left my tower forever with a sense of peace.
So pretty cool game, thanks for making it!
You are oh so close to making this a size that can be printed as a booklet without having to trim every page. Any way to make the printable version's pages a little taller? I will convert it to a booklet and sent it back for you to use :)
This is a marvellous game and is a great introduction to solo role playing. The story, thanks to the well written prompts, took me on an unexpected journey into the heart of solitude and the cost of power. It can sometimes ask unsettling questions about what you are prepared to sacrifice to achieve your ambition, but you always have the option to step away. Playing a game that is capable of surprising you at every turn is a delight! This is a designer worth following. Thank you Momatoes! I look forward to exploring your other work.
Ok, I came back after my first run is completed. I really really liked it. I found it similar to thousand year vampire but shorter, wich is good, and with less book keeping, wich is really good.
It has a lot of replayibility due to the prompts being randomizable.
The only thing i could say, is that i tried to be good, and ended up beeing quite able to do so. I was kinda expecting the game to force me into darker places. I could have totally gone there if I wanted though.
Really good Game!
Cheers Momatoes
I just started playing and I´m already enjoying it very much. Really worth giving it a try!
A very enjoyable solo experience! The prompts are creative, the layout and atmosphere are great! The game can get really dark really quick, exploring the solitude of great power. Had a day-long playing-writing session and soon would again
absolutely incredibly solo ttrpg, the first one I've full played through in like..a year and a bit? i reckon the replayability value is through the roof - i've just sat down and written my answer for 6 hours STRAIGHT so i'll probably give it a few months before I try playing it again though haha. massive kudos to the creator, you really just dropped a masterpiece on us like I wouldn't forgo sleep to play. my playthrough can be found here (https://butchboar.wordpress.com/2023/05/12/the-magnus-response-review/) if anyone wants a nosey.
Good game. I liked the prompts and the overall idea very much. The game is very Prospero-esque and the process is flexible enough to accommodate to various character ideas.
I'd like to have more various prompts for bond progression, as currently all bond events have the same prompt in the Nurture section. I also found the endings a little bit underdeveloped. I'd like to be able to role for some final prompts, perhaps with various options depending on how good or bad my magus had fared.
Summary of my playthrough:
My wizard was an absolvent of an elite magical school who dabbled in powerful magic, trying to bring a world revolution. He ended up both causing World War I and resolving it and his final spell changed the reality to create a completely new dynamics of power in the world. He ended up as an artifact of an forgotten old world, a eccentric professor surrounded by multiple friends.
hello
Dear reader wondering if this game is worth it: it is. Everybody talk about how great the game is in the other comments, you can go and read those instead. I myself can't wait to start
But can we talk for a second about the layout? Light text on dark and evocative pictures, a bold choice of colors and fonts, and it WORKs. Seriously, this game makes a cliche gothic font just... work like it's nothing.
The destructurated page layout makes me think of mork borg -OK, which destructurated page layout wouldn't? - and I love it.
And here comes the best part: the credit section informs you that IT. WAS. MADE. ON. POWERPOINT.
I'm truly in awe, both at the game desing and at the tenacity and spite needed to pull this of.
Dear author, congrats.
Great game! I played some months ago a session and I found it deeply touching. My unnamed magus even had a happy ending, although he left behind all his magic. You can read the actual play (in spanish) in my blog: The Magus, review and actual play. Yes, in a blog, not in a video; I'm a traditionalist ;)
A deep and tragic game about ambition and isolation. Magus tempts you twice fold with impossible odds. First, embark on the path of power without ever losing control. Second, to be strong without ever being vulnerable.
My first session felt like a marathon of blood. From the beginning, Magus plays the clever trick of presenting you an out: "Perhaps the best course of action you could take is to never play". The text clearly shows how dangerous your journey of power can be. The world could be pummeled to dust if you made one simple mistake. But your path as a Magus almost feels too simple to fail. Make a compromise here, stay the path once in a while there and grab power when it's safest. What could ever go wrong with you at the helm?
Then you do make a mistake. And sacrifices must be made. But it's okay. You have power. And there are plenty of people to take the blow for you. You took on a debt for them. Now would be their turn. When the dominoes finally start falling in front of you, you will have already convinced yourself you still hold all the cards.
I really recommend taking a weekend to play this. If not give it a read.
The Magus was my first solo RPG and it was so fun. I'm a writer trying to defeat a writer's block and similiar exercises like these are perfect for that! If the physical copy ever released outside of italy I would love to buy it!